Lebanon protests enter seventh day as banks and schools remain closed

Protesters have clashed with Lebanese soldiers as they tried to open major roads. Credit: EPA

Lebanese army troops have scuffled with demonstrators as they struggled to unblock main roads after economic reforms proposed by the government failed to stem a historic wave protests against the political elite.

Hundreds of thousands of people have flooded the streets for nearly a week, furious at a political class they accuse of pushing the economy to the point of collapse.

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Banks were closed for a fifth working day on Wednesday. Schools remained shut. Many highways were impassable.

Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri's government announced an emergency reform package on Monday, to try to defuse the anger of protesters demanding the government resigns and also to steer the heavily indebted state away from a looming financial crisis.

A Reuters witness said scores of young men and women in Sidon, 45km south of Beirut, had blocked the highway at an entrance of the city by sitting on the ground from the early hours.

Protesters attend a demonstration against the government in downtown Beirut, Lebanon. Credit: EPA

After failing to persuade protesters to open the road, which leads to and from the capital, soldiers beat some of them and the Red Cross took the injured to hospital, the witness said. That section of the highway reopened.

A security source said the army's decision was still to refrain from using any force. The army would try to convince protesters peacefully to open some roads, and most remained blocked across the country on Wednesday, the source said.

The demonstrations have been largely peaceful since Friday night when security forces clashed with some protesters in central Beirut.

People have been blocking highways as part of the protests which have united Lebanese from across the sectarian spectrum.